discoverySource

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The discoverySource table describes the source of the data discovered for an entity. In the case where there are multiple sources, for example, SNMP and an EMS, or two different EMSs, the table identifies all of the data sources for that entity.

In the case where there are multiple data sources for a single entity, there will be multiple rows in the discoverySource table for that entity. The nativeId and nativeIdString fields are important, as they are the identifiers used by the EMS to identify a given device. Network Manager might refer to the same entity in a completely different way. For example, a DNS lookup on a retrieved IP might have provided a DNS name, and this DNS name would then be used to name the entity in the NCIM topology database.

The following table describes the discoverySource table.

Table 1. discoverySource table 
Column name Type Constraints Description
entityId Integer not null The identifier of an entity from the entityData table.
managedBy 255-character string The name of an element manager. This is usually either Network Manager or the name of an EMS.
source 14-character string
Source of the data. This field takes one of the following values:
  • Unknown
  • Other
  • TopologyEditor
  • PresetLayer
  • Agent
  • Collector
discoveryProtocol 13-character string
Protocol of the data provided by this discovery source. This field takes one of the following values:
  • Unknown
  • Other
  • Manual
  • FlatFile
  • SNMP
  • Telnet
  • XML-RPC
  • VSphere
  • OtherJavaAPI
  • TL1
  • CORBA
nativeId Integer

Identifier used by the discovery source to identify a given device.
nativeIdString 255-character string

String used by the discovery source to identify a given device.
managedElementId 255-characters String optionally used to hold a non-EMS specific ID for a device. Useful where multiple systems need to manage the device but might use different EMSs to do so.